


Twice Born But Unknown

by Merfilly



Category: Dune Series - Frank Herbert
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Missing Scene, New Year's Resolutions, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-13
Updated: 2009-05-13
Packaged: 2017-10-14 06:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duncan needs to know who he is more than anyone else</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twice Born But Unknown

**Author's Note:**

  * For [turnonmyheels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnonmyheels/gifts).



> Yuletide Import Version: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1631765

_Of Duncan Idaho, many legends are spoken. From before Muad'Dib's childhood unto his first death, he proved the most loyal of all Atreides men. When he was brought back to us, as Hayt, that loyalty was the cruelest of knives thrust at Muad'Dib, for it was the loyalty to Duke Leto Atreides which awakened the man who had trained Paul as a boy, proving what could be... for a price._ – from Irulan Corrino's unpublished diaries

`~`~`~`~`

Hayt //Duncan, I am Duncan// stared across the rolling dunes of the deserts, trying to sort through who and what he was in full. Was he the man that the Beast Rabban had made in murdering a couple and hunting their son? Was he the famed Swordmaster of Ginaz, last of a dying breed in so many ways, chosen by Duke Leto Atreides to teach his young son Paul how to survive in a deadly empire? Was he the man that had gone into the desert and found the Fremen, kindred in spirit to him in ways he had not fully grasped until Leto made him a man of two masters? What was he, now?

"You think far too much, Duncan Idaho." Alia's voice came clearly to his ears, several moments after he had processed her arrival and threat status.

"I am a Mentat." //Thufir Hawat was the Mentat.// He savored the experience of working with Thufir in part of his mind as he focused his gaze on the Fremen-sharpened features of Alia. St. Alia of the Knife, as the religious-frenzied people called her.

"You are more than that." Alia's eyes bored into his, fever bright with the thoughts she had on him. "You are a unique creation, given life twice over, with all you have done now meshed to that which you did before."

He did not blink as he looked at those blue-in-blue eyes, knowing that she still awaited the moment he would prove to be treacherous and need to be disposed of. In truth, he had considered the idea that there could be some danger remaining in him several times, but his Mentat training insisted the chances were remote to vanishing.

All he really needed was to know himself, but that...was it even possible? Why did it strike such a chord with Alia? Was it dealing with her own many-lived experiences in her mind that pushed her to seek him, to test him? Did she think to find a mirror to learn from?

"I cannot, however, be one or the other, and I have yet to know where the balance is. Until I do, I must think."

Alia gave a twisting smile at the thought, expression too adult for her young features, but that was common for her. "And tell me, Duncan Idaho... what if action should be needed before the thinking is done?"

"I am sworn to Atreides," was the immediate response, wrested up by instinct more than will.

She left him alone, walking in the manner of having won a small victory.

`~`~`~`~`

 _If there was ever hope for my sister-in-law, the name of that hope was surely Duncan Idaho._ – from Irulan Corrino's unpublished diaries

`~`~`~`~`

Duncan reclined on his side, eyes open, Alia at his back in the bed. She slept soundly this night, for the few hours that she would rest. He, however, could not stop thinking.

Every fiber of his being told him a threat was at hand. More than simply the usual anti-Imperial threats, he noted in his dutiful cataloging of impressions. It was present in the power plots from Salusa Secondus, it was evident in the growing inscrutability of the twins, and it was tainting the spice-winds off the desert.

Something was about to spill out and try to claim the Atreides heritage, quite soon. He knew it was there, as he shifted to his other side carefully, now able to stare at his lady. Watching her sleep, the danger intensified in vagueness instead of clarifying to a potential avenue.

The worst of it for Duncan lay in the fact he was conflicted again. Was that the part of him that had been made by the Tleilaxu rebelling inwardly against the iron fist of the jihad?

Or was it the man who had sworn loyalty to Paulus and Leto Atreides out of love and respect who rejected what had become of the Atreides famed honor?

`~`~`~`~`

 _All men will know many masters in their lives. The majority of humanity is not suited to a life they dictate themselves. When one is free to choose, and pledges fully to the service of a master from their own heart, how hard a choice it must be to break that bond. No matter the pain of the choice, Duncan Idaho knew his heart well enough to see the only path that retained his loyalty to his first master, House Atreides, rather than to the woman who abused its power._ – from Irulan Corrino's unpublished diaries

`~`~`~`~`

//I am Hayt. I am Duncan Idaho. I am the Swordmaster Mentat, and the narrow edge of the logic blade is that which I must wield.//

Sietch Tabr was neutral territory. Stilgar, even after all the words shared through the night, would not breach that. Killing Javid, breaching that neutrality, was almost enough. Still, more was needed. Stilgar must have no choice but the one that would end the usurpation of Atreides honor by whatever force guided Alia's actions now. And so Duncan hurled the insults with all the quiet force he had ever known. The three deadliest insults in Fremen lexicon, and Duncan laid them all upon his long-time friend.

//I serve my Duke; I serve my seitch.//

Duke Leto had given his service to the Fremen, after coming here. Duncan, man of two masters, now borne to two natures, had seen the shape of the future in his calculations. The choices had all led to bloody conflict, but some were in honor. Others, were not. Stilgar had to be freed of his notion that Alia could still be accommodated, he had to be free to act as the Fremen he truly was.

//I am Duncan Idaho. House Atreides is my bond.//

Stilgar moved slower than he had in years past, but the two bounding steps were enough. Duncan looked into his face, knowledge in his eyes, as the blade slid through his diaphragm, through his lungs.

//The seeds of this death were in the making of the first...//

He, the last Swordmaster of Ginaz, had seen his oath through twice now, and died for the futile machinations of politics. Now, Stilgar, as the slayer of Alia's bound consort, would have no choice but to be her enemy.

//...but I am still Duncan Idaho.//


End file.
